Improvement in car-couplings



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. BARNARD, OF FROSTBURG, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, R. C.PAUL, AND JOHN M. STANDISH, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,836, dated September12, 1871.

TQ all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jol-1N D. BARNARD, of Frostburg, in the county ofAlleghany and State of Maryland, have invented an Improved Oar- Bumper 5and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawingforming part of this specication, in which- Figure l is a top view, andFig. 2 is a vertical section in the line x w of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawing indicatecorresponding parts.

The oldfashioned short stout cast-iron drawhead, provided with lian gesa a, through which it can be bolted to the frame of the car, and havingnearly horizontal upper and under surfaces b b, curved ijanged lips c c,a neck, d, contracted laterally but not to any extent vertically, and ahead, c, expanded laterally, the outlines of the whole correspon dingsubstantially to those shown in Figs. l and 2, has been by longexperience proved to be so much superior practically to other devicesfor a similar purpose that it is superseding everything else forfreight-cars, and coming into very general use on passengercoaches. Forthe purpose of obviating certain disadvantages pertaining to this formof drawhead without departing from the general principles of itsconstruction I make the draw-head With an opening, m., through the topofthe casting, at the neck, said opening preferably extending from thehead back to the supporting-flange c; and directly beneath this openingI incline the floor i of the chamber I upward and backward from a pointimmediately behind the coupling-pin P to the rear edge of the opening,as shown in Fig. 2. The draw-head beneath and behind the incliner' ispreferably cast solid, as shown at w, to counteract the loss of strengthat m, with a gain or socket, o, to aid in securing it to the car-frameor other support, if necessary.

The difference between my improved drawhead and the old form, therefore,consists in the opening m and incline 1'., and the operation andadvantages of this improved construction are as follows: In the firstplace, when the cars are crowded together so that a link cannot beintroduced or removed at the end ofthe drawheads, it can be done throughthe opening m, thereby saving the necessity of starting up the train forthe purpose. In the second place, the cars can be coupled or uncoupledat any time without going between them when they are in motion. They canbe simply run together and then coupled by introducing or removing thelinks at the top ofthe draw-heads- In the third place, the links can bereadily changed when the train is at rest, so as to regulate the slackofthe couplings as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

A draw-head cast in one piece, with an opening, m, and an incline, i,arranged as described. Witnesses: JOHN D. BARNARD.

M. T. DELANo, THos. G. PORTER.

